Quick Edit | Staying ahead in the game

It is likely that coverage of the first trading day of the new decade will focus on how everyone from day traders to anchors of business television channels will now have to start their working day earlier than usual, as the major Indian stock markets open for trading at 9am.

The change is not important in itself. The Indian stock markets have steadily increased their trading hours and reduced holidays over the past two decades. The more important fact is that exchange authorities have gone ahead with an early opening despite stiff opposition from market participants because they want to grab back market share that they have lost to regional financial hubs such as Singapore that have a robust trade in Indian index futures.

The point is that the Indian markets are now part of the global financial network and need to keep innovating to stay in the game. India and the other emerging markets have outperformed most established markets in the first decade of this century. That could continue. The task ahead is to stay ahead in the innovation and regulation game as well.